1,000 Korean Students, Monks Riot : Demand Arrest of Chun on Charges of Corruption

About 1,000 radical students and Buddhist monks hurled firebombs at riot police today, demanding that disgraced former President Chun Doo Hwan be arrested on corruption charges.

“Arrest Chun Doo Hwan,” shouted the protesters in the streets of the capital. They threw hundreds of firebombs at police, who responded with tear gas.

The protesters also denounced President Roh Tae Woo, accusing him of trying to protect Chun, an old friend and former associate. Roh is scheduled to appear on nationwide TV at 10 a.m. Saturday to appeal for public mercy for his disgraced predecessor.

In a nationally televised speech Wednesday, Chun apologized for corruption and abuse of power under his authoritarian government. He said he was surrendering all of his personal property, worth $24 million, and going into exile in the country--a traditional path for disgraced former leaders.

Dissident groups have said Chun’s apology is not enough, and they are demanding that he be prosecuted. The country’s main opposition parties have demanded further explanations from Chun.

The protesters in Seoul were among 2,000 students who earlier rallied at the city’s Dongguk University to demand Chun’s arrest. After the rally, about half of them stormed out of the school to clash with police in the streets.

Several thousand riot police in green combat fatigues and black-visored helmets ringed the campus to stop students from leaving. Police fired volleys of tear gas and hurled rocks and other objects.

The controversy over Chun overshadowed a move by the staunchly anti-communist South Korean government today to further expand its economic contact with communist countries by signing an economic cooperation agreement with Poland. The pact made Poland the third East European country to conclude such an agreement with South Korea. The others are Hungary and Yugoslavia.

South Korea has no diplomatic relations with communist nations because of its bitter rivalry with communist North Korea.